Elven Task

The whole village stopped harvesting, and they rushed to see the baby from nowhere found naked in the middle of the wheat field. The priest said the strange mark below her neck nape was really a letter, a J, probably for Jane. So Jane she was. And as there was no village family who could afford to keep and dower her, it was decided she should be shared. She was passed from cottage to cottage for loving and tending, and then as she grew, to help as she could and to learn every women's skill to equip her for a maid's place at the Big House when she was twelve summers old.

This was a happy childhood, but the longed-for Big House place was a disaster.

On her second day, she was thrown out to go home in a blizzard. She was rescued by an elvish noblewoman and tumbled into adventures in a strange land. Forced to flee from death threats she does not understand, Jane seeks shelter in a great forest, which is the traditional home of the ancient elven folk. Her adventures lead to the setting upon her of an elven task to find someone lost. She is given only a name and told, 'When you find her, you will know her.'

This is the story of the search.

It follows her travels through a cities and countries of a world unknown to her. She encounters ordinary and powerful people, both human and of the elder races. Journeying on, Jane learns more than she ever dreamed possible when she was first plunged into adventure. So the story is one of growing up in unforeseeable circumstances.

It is also a story of warm relationships with new friends whose own exciting adventures touch and enliven her own.